Provision for the Journey Ahead | Numbers part 30
Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:3-11
This week we taking a look at Numbers 27. The first section is a bit of case law regarding the inheritance of daughters. The second is Joshua’s commission as the new leader of Israel. In each of these passages we see how God provides for His people as they enter the Promised Land. As we read it today, I would like us to view this chapter in the lens of how it can inform how the church operates today. Specifically,
How does Numbers 27 inform how God makes provision for His Church today?
Before we begin in chapter 27, we need to take a second to look back at chapter 26 and remind ourselves how the inheritance of the Promised Land was to be allocated.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance in proportion to its list. But the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.
Numbers 26:52-55
The land would be divided “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers”. The Law stipulated each father would be the contact point for each family. Inheritance laws have traditionally used the father to son as the point of contact for passing goods down the family. The system works except when there is no son.
Today’s passage begins with this issue. What should Israel do when there is no son to inherit the land?
Provision for the Fatherless Daughters | Numbers 27:1-11
Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers.”
Moses brought their case before the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the Lord commanded Moses.’”
Numbers 27:1-11
The daughters recognize the Law would exclude their father’s line, and they would have no part in the Promised Land. The father “died for his own sin” which does not tell us much, other than they probably simply mean he died just as the first generation was told they would. He was not part of Korah’s rebellion, and so he simply died in the wilderness. So why should his family be punished more than other Israelites, just because he did not have a son?
Moses brings the case before God Who agrees with the daughters. They should inherit their father’s portion of the Promised Land. Even more, God gives the pattern of inheritance that will govern Israel into the future.
The order becomes: 1) Sons 2) Daughters 3) Brothers 4) Paternal Uncles 5) Closest male relative.
In the past, I had heard Israel’s law was more progressive than its Ancient Near East counterparts, but scholarship has begun to shift from this simplistic view (as often happens with new information). The debate now has become more about actual practice vs. law codes. In other words, it would appear many Ancient Near East cultures shared some commonalities with Israel, but how varying communities actually practiced the law vs what the law said would differ.
And this absolutely makes sense. It is very common, even among churches, for groups to stray from what the law actually says. Churches may stray from God’s design for the church if barriers and checks are not put in place. Israel would eventually stray from God’s design and covenant bringing them into Exile. It didn’t take the New Testament churches long before John’s Revelation included a warning against apostasy.
One of the reasons I want us to go through each book of the Bible systematically is so that it gives us an opportunity to check what we think we know with what the Bible actually says. Doing so helps us find our blindspots—those places where we believe we are being obedient, but actually aren’t.
This passage has other connection points to our modern world. On the surface, this passage simply determines inheritance laws. It is fairly straightforward, and the primary principle we can glean for today is:
Every person in God’s Kingdom has a place and an inheritance.
The daughters would have lost their place in the Promised Land had they not spoken up. The Law was deficient to accommodate them until they brought their case before Moses. Then, the Lord spoke to Moses revealing the way in which they could receive their inheritance. That is how Case Law works and why so much of the Torah is Case Law.
As we think about today, we can see how this principle operates for us. When we fast forward all the way to the New Testament, the Bible continues to affirm this principle.
In Matthew, Jesus has a conversation with some religious leaders.
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”Matthew 15:1-9
In 1 Timothy, Paul writes:
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:8
In the Book of James, we read:
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27
The clear pattern from Old Testament to New Testament is that families should care each other, and the people of God are called to care for those without families.
Caring for family members, and those without a family, is a reflection of God’s care for us.
By extension, we can also look at this principle in light of how a church should operate. For those who grow up going to church and who have been discipled from an early age, it is very similar to children who have much to inherit. You have been given the knowledge and the training for God’s Kingdom. (Whether or not we follow that training is another question.)
But what about those who come to faith later in life? Where does the new Christian who knows little of the Bible or how churches operate fit in?
Should they lose their part of the kingdom because they do not have spiritual parents?
It is up to the Church to provide for these spiritual orphans. As we reach new people, we must not convert them and then leave it up to them to figure things out. Discipleship is an ongoing process that continues long after a person is saved.
So how can we care for each brother and sister in Christ?
Make the effort to introduce ourself to new faces.
Invite those without a small group into our own.
Give tangible help when able and appropriate.
Invite others to join in our service to the Lord.
We can look even further into the future to help us understand how this principle plays out today. As Christians, we know that Jesus prepares a place for us in the New Creation. At the consummation of all things, Christ will inaugurate the New Heaven and New Earth in which those who have trusted in Him will inherit an eternal place. Regardless of our background, if we are in Christ, we will be in the New Creation. If the local church is supposed to be a bit of heaven on earth (and it is), then we can trust that God has a place for each person in the local church, also.
Paul likens the church to the Body of Christ, and each member of the church has a part to play in the church, just like each part of the body has a role in the function of the whole body (1 Corinthians 12).
When we fail to help each member of the church find their role, it is like failing to take care of a part of our body.
Each member of the church should have a place in the church because each member of the kingdom of heaven has an inheritance.
The last part of our chapter today also informs this modern practice.
Provision for the Leaderless | Numbers 27:12-23
The Lord said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses.
Numbers 27:12-23
Moses will pass away soon. He has already been told that he cannot enter the Promised Land, and so a new leader must be appointed. The criteria for leadership is fairly straightforward. The Lord picks Joshua. He was one of the two spies who said Israel could take the Promised Land. He also has been shadowing Moses for some time. In Exodus, there are numerous mentions of Joshua alongside Moses, as well as the few times in Numbers in which Joshua is marked out.
But more than his experience with Moses, the Lord says of Joshua “in whom is the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit was in Joshua. This is one of those few instances in the Old Testament in which it is said that God’s Spirit was in someone. Earlier, Moses had wished that God’s Spirit would be on all of Israel. We know that wish has been fulfilled through Christ. Now, whomsoever calls on the Name of the Lord is saved, and God’s Spirit fills that person.
But “being filled in the Spirit” or “having God’s Spirit” means more than mere words or some academic theory. It also includes being guided by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit takes command of our life.
Joshua was qualified to lead because God’s Spirit took hold of his life.
Moses and Eleazar commissioned Joshua to the task of leadership as a public decree of what God had already established.
As we reflect on how God provides today, we must ask ourselves this question:
Who is God calling to leadership today, and how can we help commission them to the task?
I firmly believe God is directing our church to a new era of ministry, not just in Bow but in the wider Custer County also. A larger area means we will need a larger supply of leadership. We know God will supply for whatever task He lays before us, and so how can we find these leaders?
I believe this chapter can give us some guiding principles for how to find these leaders and whether or not we could be one.
First, the new leaders will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
These will not be nominal or cultural Christians. They will have a desire to serve the Lord and walk as He commands them to walk.
Are you truly desiring to follow the Lord’s lead in your life, or are you just going through the motions of what you always do?
Second, the new leaders will already be working alongside the current ones.
Moses did not have to look far to find Joshua. When Moses asked the Lord who would take the people into the Promised Land, God said, “The guy next to you.”
Are you serving alongside the current leaders, or are you more concerned with what you can get out of going to church?
Third, the new leaders may be spiritual orphans, sons or daughters.
Some of the most innovative church leaders did not grow up in the church. They don’t have the historical baggage of “this is how we always do it.” What they do have is the desire to lead well and are rooted in Christ knowing when we are truly honoring our fathers and mothers and when we are just following tradition.
Is your priority to maintain tradition or to find the lost sheep of Jesus?
Another way to ask is, are you rooted in Christ or rooted in church habits?
Likewise, are you seeking to follow where the Lord sends you, or are you listening to the lie that God won’t use you?
The question is never whether or not God loves you and desires to grow you and build a place in the kingdom for you. The question is whether you will surrender to His desires. In every step of salvation, the next step is about surrendering in faith.
You will never be called to Christian leadership if you never surrender to God’s Will.
You are first saved, not because of any good you do, but because you surrender to Jesus who has paid the price.
You grow in faith with each step of surrender.
You surrender your time to devote it to study, to service, and to fellowship. And through study, service, and fellowship, you grow.
You surrender your funds to devote it to the ministry of the church. And God blesses you.
You surrender your talents to devote them to service and ministry. And God grows them.
Every Sunday School teacher and small group leader started their ministry by surrendering to the Lord’s call.
Every AWANA leader, every elder, every deacon, and every pastor all started their journey with surrender.
Who knows where God will take you in your Christian journey, but you won’t get anywhere without that first step of surrender.